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TELLINIDAE

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Pharaonella astula (Hedley, 1917)

Description:   Shape elongate, posterior end drawn out into a beak which is flexed to the right; groove in front of beak. Umbo at posterior third. Exterior smooth, glossy, except for beak which has fine commarginal ridges. Interior with pallial line, anterior and posterior muscle scars well defined; pallial sinus deep, extending past midline. Hinge with 2 cardinal teeth in each valve, 1 bifid, and 2 widely spaced lateral teeth in each valve. Ligament external. Shell colour pink with white bands or rays.

Size:                Up to 52 m in length.

Distribution:  Endemic to Australia: Green Island, off Cairns, southwards to Port Hacking, Sydney, NSW, plus two authentic records from Northern Territory.

Habitat:          Assumed to burrow shallowly in sand. Uncommon in NSW.

Comparison:  Three similar looking species of large-shelled, rostrate, pink tellins occur in the tropical Indo-West Pacific, including northern Australia: Pharaonella astula is slightly elongate with a relatively much shorter pointed beak; Pharonella aurea (Perry, 1811) is very elongate with a long pointed beak; Tonganaella perna (Spengler, 1798) is nowhere near as elongate, with a short broad beak. 

Fig. 1:             Myora, Stradbroke Is., Qld (C.303195)